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Sun, 18 Feb 2018 04:52:14 +0000Joomla! - Open Source Content Managementen-gb'Call Me by Your Name' seduces with academicshttp://kdhx.org/2-uncategorised/892-call-me-by-your-name-seduces-with-academics
http://kdhx.org/2-uncategorised/892-call-me-by-your-name-seduces-with-academicsThe time is 1983, summer. The setting is Italy, warm, open, sexy Italy, with the sous-setting being the groves of academe. A family of academics welcomes a kind of intern to their summer home in northern Italy. Oliver is solidly American to the family's worldly, multi-lingual context.

The host family introduces Oliver to the community, the young, dancing women, the orchard with its low-hanging fruit, the classical sculptures and stories -- and to their son, Elio, a 17-year-old musician, his hormones moaning. He and Oliver establish distance, each more diffident than the other, pretending not to care. That fits adolescent Elio as well as the adult male Oliver, unsure behind his confidence.

Oliver, being thoroughly American, touches those around him, but Elio does not know how to read those touches. He knows only that he wants more. The two men explore each other as if they were blindly but expertly running their hands down the lines of a Praxiteles sculpture, recently retrieved from the sea.

As the distance between them elides, one male says to the other, "Call me by your name," and they bond and blend. Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet take the leads convincingly, with Michael Stuhlbarg performing well as the father, especially in the end.

The film is based on the novel of that title by André Aciman, who wrote the polyglot script with the redoubtable James Ivory. Director Luca Guadagnino, famous for "I Am Love," directs his cameras to the juicy, yet oddly sere Italian landscape as well as to the sexual couplings of men and women, with only the tiniest glimpse of the male engine of sex, making significant scenes marginally unreal. "Call Me by Your Name" is an exotic, erotic, energetic, and exciting exploration.

]]>ROOTWed, 20 Dec 2017 03:18:20 +0000'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' continues the spectacular franchisehttp://kdhx.org/2-uncategorised/911-star-wars-the-last-jedi-continues-the-spectacular-franchise
http://kdhx.org/2-uncategorised/911-star-wars-the-last-jedi-continues-the-spectacular-franchise"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" has arrived and writer/director Rian Johnson has distinguished himself by remaining true to the ennobling values advanced by the franchise while also integrating exhilarating action sequences. No spoilers here, but it is safe to say that several beloved, familiar characters return in fine form to fight mightily for the Resistance against the oppressive First Order.

Jumping right into the continuing story, we're swept along on a momentous journey. What continues to recommend all the Star Wars films is the world view presented therein, with numerous themes that reach out from this science fiction milieu to our very ordinary lives. Issues include many archetypal ones: hubris and its pitfalls, the battle of good and evil, parent-child relationships, forgiveness, and discovering the authentic essence of oneself. In addition, many comments resonate, including a debate about intelligent leaders versus hot-headed heroes who want to blow things up, the ugliness of arms dealers who work both sides, and the notion of winning not by fighting what we hate but by saving what we love. In the rush of astonishing battles and the cross cutting among several narrative threads, it's easy to discount the thoughtful and insightful philosophy embedded here.

The physical and emotional demands challenge the cast to act and react in believable ways with imaginary locations and animals. As Rey, Daisy Ridley again gives an intense, focused performance of strength and vulnerability in equal measure. Adam Driver as Kylo Ren offers a malevolent presence tempered with conflicted emotions. Carrie Fisher's Leia is a model of clear-headed decision making, and we can't help but regret her tragic death even more. Other standouts are Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe and Benicio Del Toro as DJ. Add to that the hundreds of stunt men and women.

Equally important, the technical crew sets an impossibly high standard, meets and surpasses it: Bob Ducsay's split-second editing, Steve Yedlin's cinematography, Rick Heinrichs' production design, and John Williams' music. George Lucas created a masterpiece and, to its credit and our pleasure, the current team sustains it.

]]>ROOTWed, 13 Dec 2017 07:47:18 +0000'Wonder' offers a free cry -- nothing wrong with that http://kdhx.org/2-uncategorised/881-wonder-offers-a-free-cry-nothing-wrong-with-that
http://kdhx.org/2-uncategorised/881-wonder-offers-a-free-cry-nothing-wrong-with-thatA small boy speaks: "I know I am not an ordinary 10-year-old kid." He is not. August ("Auggie") was born with mandibulofacial dystosis, or "Treacher Collins syndrome." He has been home-schooled until now, when his parents decide it's time for school-school. "Wonder" covers Auggie's year in fifth grade.

The film, based on a novel by R. J. Palacio, is meant to inspire, but not just for our plucky little hero. Auggie has endured 27 surgeries, but "Wonder" makes clear what his family and even what his classmates endure, too. It is a film about change and compassion. That does not mean it's all lecture. Director Steven Chbosky, within the quartet of scriptwriters, brings credentials as a writer of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Beauty and the Beast."

Chbosky divided Auggie's story into points of view told by Auggie, his sister, his friend, and his sister's friend -- just as Faulkner did with As I Lay Dying. There's even a Faulkner visual tucked in along with a reference to Henry Ward Beecher in Auggie's school's namesake. "Wonder" is not all about Auggie, and, yet, it is.

Jacob Trembley portrays Auggie with the grace he brought to the film "Room." Izabela Vidovic plays Auggie's sister, often left out. Noah Jupe, recently seen in "Suburbicon," plays Auggie's friend. Julia Roberts plays his mom, and Owen Wilson his dad, and the two stars play well with the ensemble. The supporting cast includes the great Mandy Patinkin and Daveed Diggs.

You have to wonder why such renowned actors would work in what could have easily been a Hallmark movie. That they believed in the story shows through their solid work, raising "Wonder" above a teaching moment -- or just a free cry. It is both of those. It is good at each of those, and sometimes they matter, too. "Wonder" is funny and dear if sometimes unreal, but it is well worth watching as a reminder to be kind.